RISE OF ABSOLUTISM 629 Some authorities date the New Monarchy in England from Edward IV's reign and others from that of Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty. Edward IV The New felt that he had conquered his throne and was Monarch y self-willed and made little use of Parliament except to put through bills of attainder against his enemies. He insti- tuted a new custom called " Benevolences," in which he got money by bringing personal pressure to bear upon wealthy individuals and corporations such as those of the muni- cipalities. This was really taxation without the consent of Parliament. Benevolences, however, were an irregular and precarious kind of revenue which could not be depended upon as could the permanent annual taille of France. Nor did the English kings establish a standing army. Henry VII was a sort of English Louis XI, however, equally shrewd and calculating and stingy and averse to war, but not quite so superstitious and cruel and despicable. He continued the practice of benevolences and did not call Parliament often. He instituted the Court of Star Chamber, made up of mem- bers of his own council, to punish the disorders of the great nobles and to deal with cases where the common-law courts and juries had proved ineffectual. This court restored order in the land, but it was liable to be an instrument of tyranny, since it was not bound by the rules of the common law, could employ torture, and was under close royal influ- ence. Royal influence, indeed, was to reign supreme in Eng- land for the next hundred years, since the king gave order and protection, which the Lancastrian Parliaments had failed to do. Battles and executions during the period of the Wars of the Roses had considerably depleted the ranks of the nobil- ity. In England as in France the fifteenth cen- The middle tury was the time of the rise of the middle class, class in The English towns now reached the height of ngan their prosperity and independence. Secure behind theL walls, they took little part in the Wars of the Roses, and during that period, as well as in the preceding weak reign of Henry VI, profited by freedom from the interference of the
